The Fire learned their schedule for the MLS is Back Tournament. They also got a little help from the league to make the event a little more equitable.
On Wednesday, MLS announced the slate for the upcoming tournament, which is expected to open July 8 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. The Fire are due to begin their campaign at 9:30 p.m. CDT that night against first-year team Nashville SC, a club that was moved into the Eastern Conference for this tournament and at least the remainder of 2020. On July 14, the Fire are scheduled to face Inter Miami, another expansion team, at 8 am CDT.
To wrap the group stage, the Fire’s opponent at 7 p.m. CDT on July 19 will be New York City FC, the only team the Fire will see in their opening three matches that competed last season in MLS. Last season, the Fire went 0-1-1 against NYCFC.
As for the help from the league, that relates to qualifying for the knockout stage of the tournament. The Fire’s six-team Group A will now automatically send its top three teams to the next round, instead of the two that were announced as part of the original format.
The five four-team groups will still see at least two of their sides move on.
With the format change, the top half of every group will move on to the knockout round. And now it’s possible the fourth-place team in Group A could grab one of the three wild-card slots for the round of 16. Those bids will go to clubs with the most points that didn’t finish in the top half of their group.
The winner of the tournament will receive a bid for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League. The three group-stage matches will also count toward the 2020 regular season standings.
In preparation for the tournament and the continuation of their season, the Fire resumed full team training June 15. Teams were allowed to arrive in Orlando beginning Wednesday, though the Fire are scheduled to leave for Florida on July 1.
